Borussia Dortmund in Advanced Talks to Sign Facundo Buonanotte

Borussia Dortmund are in advanced talks to sign 20-year-old Argentine midfielder Facundo Buonanotte. The Bundesliga giants are close to completing a deal with Brighton & Hove Albion as they look to snap up the gifted playmaker. Reports indicate that Olympique Lyonnais had also shown strong interest in the youngster.

WHAT HAPPENED

Dortmund have identified Buonanotte as a vital signing to bolster their squad ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. The versatile midfielder, who spent last season out on loan at Leicester City, impressed despite being involved in a relegation battle. In 31 league appearances, the youngster scored five goals and provided key assists, catching the eye with his impressive dribbling, passing, and set-piece taking ability according to reports.

With Jamie Gittens having left to join Chelsea this summer and Gio Reyna also considering his future amid interest from clubs across Europe, signing an attacking midfielder is of utmost priority to Dortmund. Their pursuit of Buonanotte could prove successful as they are close to an agreement with Brighton.

WHY DORTMUND HAVE SIGNED BUONANOTTE

Buonanotte was a part of the relegated Leicester, and although it may sound surprising, his signing could prove to be a masterstroke by the Bundesliga giants. Capable of playing across various positions in central and wide attacking midfield, he will offer flexibility to the Black and Yellows’ frontline. Dortmund, like many other clubs, use a 3-4-1-2 system which offers midfielders more flexibility to operate both centrally and wide.

At Leicester, he spent most of his time on the right side of midfield, scoring five goals and providing two assists in 35 appearances across all competitions. He was tasked with crossing the ball into the penalty box often as the Foxes had two forwards in their line-up. This resulted in quite a high cross completion rate of 36%, which is expected to improve further with better players around him.

He is also an able ball carrier and can use his dribbling ability and pace to his advantage. Dortmund delivered the second-fewest kicks into the final third last season, and this is an area they will be looking to improve on. Once known as a team that loved to play out of the back and through midfield, the Borussia Dortmund of today rely on counter-attacks to score goals. Once out of depth, balls are pumped into the box, which results in loss of possession more often than not.

Departures of key attacking players like Gittens have also made signing a creative midfielder an important task. Buonanotte is a player for the present and the future and he could go a long way in furthering Dortmund’s rise towards breaking Bayern Munich’s stranglehold in the Bundesliga.

WHAT NEXT

The next step will be to see if Dortmund can get a deal for Buonanotte over the line. Lyon are heading into 2026 on the back of a rather successful end to the year and will be confident of securing deals for top targets. It is now up to the player, who seems to have sorted his future with a significant move to Europe.